Today’s article was just a short one, and engaging in what makes everyone roll their eyes: seeing something happen on Reddit and writing an article about it.
To cut it short:
Billie Eilish (famous singer) uploaded a picture of her old Nintendo DSi in gallery of images, to her Instagram account
Someone shared that on Reddit
Half of the comment section slid straight into shitty gamer dude Hell (the other half did not)
Some man on Mastodon attacked me
Post removed from Reddit when moderators spotted the comments
…this is a fast-forward of the oddness, but if you want to read over my ramble here, and see some shittiness, the link will help:
I see this shit all the time, and it is not only exhausting, but something no one should see (no matter their identity) should be subjected to. Anyway, read on if you’d like!
A recent Reddit post in the r/NintendoDS community, titled “Billie Eilish via last Instagram post,” is a small but telling example of how these dynamics surface in otherwise ordinary gaming spaces. While the post itself is fairly innocuous: it just shows Billie Eilish and a Nintendo console associated with nostalgia. The comment section (in part) quickly becomes less about the device or shared memories, and more about performance: who is “allowed” to be associated with gaming culture, and on what terms.
Are you positive it’s about women and not celebrities? Personally I’ve never seen or heard about anyone’s disbelief in women being gamers. However, I have absolutely seen and heard about a lof ot people’s disbelief in anything celebrities do for attention.
Not necessarily saying Billie is full of shit. Just celebrities in general, and she happens to be one.
I mean, I’d imagine that you wouldn’t know those kinds of people. But it’s very much real. While it no doubt encompasses celebrity gatekeeping, it’s at least as much about women in gaming as well. Gaming was associated with boys as part of a campaign to bring it back from the brink, and that’s manifested a culture of misogyny since. Gamergate’s continued smoldering is evidence of that
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Are you positive it’s about women and not celebrities? Personally I’ve never seen or heard about anyone’s disbelief in women being gamers. However, I have absolutely seen and heard about a lof ot people’s disbelief in anything celebrities do for attention.
Not necessarily saying Billie is full of shit. Just celebrities in general, and she happens to be one.
I mean, I’d imagine that you wouldn’t know those kinds of people. But it’s very much real. While it no doubt encompasses celebrity gatekeeping, it’s at least as much about women in gaming as well. Gaming was associated with boys as part of a campaign to bring it back from the brink, and that’s manifested a culture of misogyny since. Gamergate’s continued smoldering is evidence of that
Good lord you cannot be this naive in 2026
Seriously. Have they talked to a woman about their life experiences? More importantly, have they ever actually listened to a woman?
Rule 30 of the “Rules of the Internet”
The only celebrities I trust to be gamers are those like Henry Cavill who have the bills to show it. Not because what gender they happen to be.